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10 Dec 2010

Illamasqua Nail Quills competition

Illamasqua and MissChievous.tv are teaming up to give away one pair of their hot new nail quills. If you haven't seen these already, check out this picture of me wearing them, with Illamasqua Scorn nailpolish on my other fingers.

These are handmade, limited edition glue on nail talons with a a silver foil tip, designed by Mike Pocock. They also come packaged and presented in a beautiful jewelry box, which is great for storage in between use.

Head over to Illamasqua's website and enter to win in the competition, so that you too might have the chance to try these out! The contest is open worldwide.

My first impression was great, they look really hot on the nails, reminiscent of the vampire Armand in Interview with the Vampire. Illamasqua Scorn semi-matte nail varnish is the perfect shade to wear with these at it looks exactly like the black part of the nail quills. (You could also wear them with other colors of course, but the nail quills will remain black.)

There are a few things I wanted to mention though. Judging from the pictures on the website, I assumed that the tip was made of solid metal, like a real quill, attached to the false nail. Unfortunately, this was not the case; the silver part of the quills is just a silver foil that has been cut to size and wrapped around the tip. This worries me because I wonder how long such material will actually keep its shape before wear and tear, or before it somehow comes undone.

The other issue I had with these is that according to the Illamasqua instructional video on how to apply and remove them, it was recommended to dribble some acetone-free remover down the side of the nail quill, wedging it with a wood stick. I did this just as in the video, only to realize afterwards while cleaning them from the inside that the remover actually stained and removed some of the color from the top of the quills! Now the silver foil of my quills has some small but noticeable chemical stains on it, and the black varnish has dent marks, and has even been removed completely on some edges. Luckily, Scorn is a perfect match, so I will try to repaint the black to make them look nice again. But that was a big surprise that the recommended method of removal actually caused damage to the quills. I don't know if they just used nail varnish to paint the false nail, maybe they should have used some sort of lacquer or paint that is completely resistant to remover? I guess I will have to be more careful next time.

But overall, these are a really unique and fun nail accessory that are sure to be a hit with a lot of people, especially those that follow various sub-culture trends. At £35 GBP they are a pricey bit of fun, but then again, anything handmade with a limited amount of production is bound to have its price.

Disclaimer: Some (but not all) of the products shown on this website are sent to me by cosmetic companies for consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the product; my priority is to give honest reviews for my readers. I sometimes use affiliate links on this blog.